


last man on the moon

by Lynn1998



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Lance, Astronaut Keith, M/M, NASA shit man, Space Gays, Trans Keith (Voltron), also gay, space mission
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2019-10-09 09:11:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17404112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynn1998/pseuds/Lynn1998
Summary: Keith was sent to the moon, and found much more than he bargianed for.





	1. isolation

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so this is a new multi chapter I’m working on. I’m adulting a lot so idk how often I can write/update this, so please be patient w me. Okay ily thanks for reading

     There was something awful about doing nothing. Being abandoned with little to no reason to continue existing except for the pure stubbornness of humanity. Dusted rocks a craters that formed the rocky terrain around a single man. One man by himself with no one else.

     At first it was a mission. The government trying to gather more information from the last time they put a human being on the moon. Why they only sent one man was beyond Keith. Instead he chose to focus on the absolutely bland daily task he had. If he could call it a daily thing. All he could do to track the days was watch the earth turn, but even then it spun faster from a distance. Instead NASA gave him a clock to follow. It was a twelve hour clock that he would record everything around him once it restarted. They even gave him a special notebook to record it in.

     In all honesty, Keith didn’t volunteer for this job. It was offered, and with it an extreme compensation. The compensation was definitely well deserved if he lived long enough to cash it. If he returned to earth, he would be set for the rest of his life. He could quit his job, buy a house with no bank loans, pay off his student loans and his car loans, and life comfortably until the day he died with no insurance or plan. In his eyes, hanging out in space for a few years was worth it.

     The only connection and entertainment he had was a radio. It didn’t always work correctly, and he didn’t like to use it outside of his ship. He could tell it was a last minute and unimportant item in his inventory because it was a little old. It wasn’t like it was from the 20th century, but it definitely was made at least thirty years ago. The parts were kind of loose, and if he took it outside parts started to float away. It could tune into radio waves from earth, so he at least could tell what song was popular at the time. If he like popular music, it would be the best part of the whole experience.

     They wanted at least one hundred entries before he was sent home. By the time he got to the fiftieth entry he was so bored and isolated. He had a few androids to keep him company, but they weren’t the same as a human companion. It’s presence only reminded him how alone he was.

     Keith sighed at his seventy-fifth entry. His favorite thing to do on the moon was just sitting on the surface and watching the world go on without him. The gravity made it feel like he was sitting on a water bed. He could slowly lay down and barely feel his back collide with the surface through his suit. Eventually after a couple hours he’d hop his way back to his base, and then eat his meal. He made sure to eat every three to four hours, and it was nice having a clock to tell when he should eat and when he should sleep. Whenever he needed to do an entry it would ring like an alarm clock.

     The day of his seventy-fifth entry was hard and strange. He stepped into the airlock and waited for the door to close and the oxygen and nitrogen to enter the chamber. He de-suited and hung it up on the incredibly strong hook. Then he entered the only room of his base and got started on his vacuum packed food.

“Welcome back, Mister Kogane,” the android greeted from the corner. Keith gave it an annoyed glance and made sure the tape barrier he made was in place.

“You’re so fucking annoying sometimes,” he sighed.

“How is the moon today?” It asked.

“Dusty and empty,” Keith replied and opened his refrigerator. He had enough meals to reach 100 entries. Once he ate the last one he was free to return.

“How marvelous. Have you done much exploring?”

“I’ve walked all over this goddamn rock,” he sighed.

“Wonderful! I can’t wait until we give this information to the NASA team at home!”

“You and me both, buddy…”

     Keith warmed up his meal in the microwave he had and then sat down at the round table he had in the corner adjacent to the robot. He let it cool down for a second and turned on the radio. Throughout his entire time on the moon, he had managed to find a station that played 70’s rock. It was nearly a century old, but it was more enjoyable than the recent static they call music from the popular radio. His favorite band was Fleetwood Mac.

“Ah!” He hissed at the hot food in his mouth.

“Be careful, Mister Kogane! Wounds don’t heal the same in sp-“

“Space! I know! You stupid piece of fucking metal,” he groaned wiped his face with a napkin. He sighed and slammed his hand with the napkin on the radio. It instantly went fuzzy and he groaned.

“Great. Now I can’t even listen to geezy music,” he said and started messing with the buttons. The stations all sounded fuzzy until he heard something else.

“…help…someon…I need…bleeding…” Keith’s eyes widen.

“Shit…”

“Planet one-three-three-three-nine-two…in orbit…location…four-five-three-two…right…to what’s…Earth…”

“Earth…?” Keith tried adjusting the connection, and it only helped a little.

“I’m on…creatures call moon…help…”

“Oh, shit! He’s _here_.”

     Keith jumped up out of his chair and rushed to the airlock. He put the suit back on and impatiently waited for the door to close and suck out all the air. He squeezed through the door before it was even fully opened and started looking around. He was currently on the bright side of the moon, but his base was on the edge of the darkness. He turned on his flashlight on his helmet, and ventured into the darkness.

     He searched for what he assumed was hours. There was nothing in the darkness, and nothing in the craters. It seemed as if the message came from now where. He walked through miles of terrain until he met the other side of the light, and started a new search.

     The light side wasn’t much luck either. He couldn’t seem to find a single life source at all on the rocky planet, and the more likely that he was still alone the more anxious he got. Eventually he was on the dark side again, and started to panic.

“Hello!” He called out desperately. “I heard you on the radio! Are you still alive!” All he heard was his echo.

“Please make a sound! I want to help you!” He called even louder. More echoes and silence. He was about to call out again when a light came out from a nearby crater.

“Oh!”

     Keith hopped over to the crater as fast as he could with the current gravity, and peeked over the crater with he flashlight on. A humanoid form was curled up under the ledge. Wit bout the light on, he easily missed it from the last time he checked. A smile spread across Keith’s face and he eagerly jumped in the shallow crater and kneeled in front of the being. The creature blinked up at the bright light and eventually iridescent blue eyes looked at Keith. It’s face was stunning despite being hidden by a mask over his mouth, and a helmet much like Keith’s. His hand was clutching his side, and Keith tried to lift it to inspect. The creature instantly jerked back and shook his head.

“Can’t…breath…” it wheezed.

“Can you breath oxygen and nitrogen?” Keith asked. The creature nodded.

“I’ll take you back to my base. You can breath there,” he said. The creature sighed with relief and nodded.

     With that, Keith scooped it up in his arms and carried his newfound companion to his base. He set him down in the airlock and closed it. Once the air flooded back in, he took off his own suit and then helped the creature remove his suit. It had a pretty nasty gash in it, but could be easily repaired with the supplies Keith had on board. Inky aquamarine goo covered the surrounding area, and from the consistency Keith could only assume it was the creatures blood. The humanoid form looked dizzy, and could barely walk without Keith supporting him. The astronaut gently guided the alien to his bed and then grabbed his first aid kit.

“Can you still speak?” Keith asked as he lifted the stained and tattered shirt off of it.

“Yes…” the alien said.

“Do you know if alcohol would burn you if I tried to clean your wound?” He questioned as he put gloves on. The creature nodded.

“My chemical makeup is very similar to humans. If it works for you, it’ll work for me,” he murmured. His voice was weak, and Keith could see the sweat on his forehead.

“Okay. This’ll sting a little,” he said before wiping the area. The creature grimace, but was otherwise silent. Keith cleaned up the blood and looked at the gash on his side. “This might be big enough for stitches…”

“Do it,” the alien sighed. 

     Keith didn’t need to be told twice. He unpackaged the surgical thread and needle and started patching up the wound. Within a half an hour he was stitched up and bandaged. Keith felt his forehead and got up to make him an ice pack. When he returned to the aliens side, those iridescent blue eyes were on him again.

“You’re a human,” he said. Keith nodded and pressed the ice pack to his forehead. His eyes fluttered shut in appreciation for the cool pack.

“And you’re…an alien?” Keith asked. The creature rolled his eyes.

“From my perspective, you’re looking pretty alien yourself,” he said.

“Fair enough…”

“You saved me,” he acknowledged as he looked up at Keith again. Those beautiful eyes nearly took Keith’s breath away. It was like little universes were caught inside them.

“I…yeah…what else would I do?” He asked.

“Kill me. It was risky to send out that message, but I was running out of air. I would’ve died either way,” he said.

“How long were you over there?” Keith questioned.

“I can’t tell. It was definitely a long time. At least it felt like it.”

“What’s your name?” Keith blurted. The alien blinked.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Uh…it’s pretty customary on earth to learn each other’s name when you become acquainted with someone…” he explained. The alien blinked again, and Keith held out his hand. “I’m Keith. Keith Kogane,” he introduced himself. The alien looked down at Keith’s hand and then back at his eyes.

“Lance,” he said. Keith put his hand down as he realized the alien wouldn’t shake it, and smiled a little.

“Are there no last names where you come from?”

“We have an assigned family unit number, but it’s nothing like what you would label a ‘last name’,” he replied. Keith nodded.

“Okay…”

“Mister Kogane, might I suggest starting a course back to Earth?” The android spoke. Keith looked back and furrowed his brows in confusion.

“What is that?” Lance asked.

“NASA’s definition of company,” he replied and stood up to move closer to it.

“What do you mean? I only have seventy-five entries.” The android’s face flipped to show a screen and showcased a document.

“According to my thermo scanner, there is another life form with you. At the first sign of alien contact, you are to be sent home,” it read out. Keith carefully read the document and then looked at Lance.

“Wanna come to earth?” Lance glared at him as he weakly pushed himself up.

“Why would I want to come to earth?” Keith frowned.

“Uh…”

“Your planet is notorious for capturing life forms and doing heinous experiments on them. Pushing the boundaries of our physical and mental capacity all for the sake of research. I am not a lab rat for you to take home and destroy!” He clutched his side at the last outburst and let his head down. The ice pack fell on to the bed. Keith was shocked to hear that to say the least.

“What?”

“That’s why you guys don’t get a lot of contact from the outside. Humans are terribly selfish creatures, and the life forms that have the technology to communicate choose not to. We all know about area fifty-one. We’ve all seen the X-files and Signs and what you think we are,” Lance explained a little more calmly. Keith frowned.

“I won’t let that happen,” he said. Lance looked up at him with skepticism.

“How can I trust that? Even if you wanted to, you have no jurisdiction,” he said.

“That’s very true, but…” Keith day on the edge of the bed and gently touched the bandages. “…going to earth is the best option to get you fully healed.” Lance pursed his lips in frustration.

“That’s also very true…” he sighed. It was silent between them for a moment before Lance looked up at Keith. “You promise me…you won’t let them experiment on me?” He asked. Keith bit his lip.

“We may have to compromise. You might have to take some tests, but…I can promise I will do everything in my power to make sure they won’t hurt you,” Keith said. Lance looked away and shook his head.

“I don’t think I have much of a choice, do I?” He grumbled. Keith reaches for and held Lance’s hand.

“Let me help you,” he pleaded. Lance looked back at him and stared for a second.

“I’ve always been told how malicious humans can be…they never told me how peculiar your eyes are,” he said. Keith blinked.

“My eyes?” He questioned.

“Yes. They look…flat. Like a disk. It’s…fascinating,” he said looking at every detail of Keith’s eyes. The astronaut blushed a little and looked away. “When are we leaving?” Lance asked. Keith perked up.

“As soon as possible.”


	2. touch base

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith returns to earth with Lance. What will happen to him next…is undecided.

“There is some skepticism on the recent return of Keith Kogane from the Lunar three-three-nine project. His ship was scheduled to return in three years. The astronaut was sent seven years ago, back in 2052. He was tasked to record the activity and surroundings on the moon for ten years. It was rumored that he would only return early…if he found som-“

“Fucking garbage…” Pidge grumbled as she turned off the television.

“C’mon, I was watching that,” Hunk whined. Pidge rolled her eyes.

“We have a landing to prepare for dumbass. Keith is arriving in a few hours, and we have to make sure it’s a safe landing,” she reminded him.

“I knowwww, but the news is so fun to watch when you know everything,” he said.

“We don’t know everything though. Just because you know about the outsider experiments doesn’t mean you know _everything_ ,” she pointed out.

“…close to everything.”

“C’mon. We’ve gotta get started on this.”

“Pidge. Hunk. We need you at the landing site,” Shiro announced over the intercom. Pidge walked over the the device and pressed the button to speak.

“On our way.”

“Wait, the landing site? I thought our job was strictly math and like…no on site,” Hunk said.

“It’s probably just a technical problem. You can fix it in a second,” Pidge brushed off and grabbed her jacket. She grabbed Hunk’s and tossed it to him on her way out.

     When they arrived to the landing site, Shiro was already there waiting for them. He had his mobile screen with him, and his eyes were trained on the documents in front of him. Pidge parked the SUV, and got out to get a closer look at the site. Before she could inspect further, Shiro looked up and gestured for her to come over. Hunk trailed behind.

“What’s up?” She asked.

“We’ve got…a special situation,” Shiro said.

“Did Keith fond an alien?” Hunk asked excitedly. Pidge pinched his arm and he yelped.

“What? I wanna know?”

“This is very sensitive information, but…yes. He found some sort of life form,” Shiro confirmed.

“Told you,” Hunk muttered to Pidge. She rolled her eyes again.

“Okay. What do you need us to do?”

“We need to design something for a softer landing. The life form is injured and not I am ideal position for a typical drop landing. We already plan to have aircrafts latch on with wire to slow it down, but with the way it’s falling…we can’t redirect it into the ocean safely. So we need to do something or make something that will make the impact softer and minimize bouncing,” shiro explained. Pidge nodded.

“Do we know exactly where it’ll fall here?” Hunk asked.

“Give or take a few degrees, but yes,” shiro confirmed.

“I think our best option is to build a lake,” Hunk proposed.

“He’s landing in three hours,” Pidge deadpanned.

“Wait, he might be on to something…”

“It doesn’t need to be deep, but…the ocean is really close, and we’ve got the machinery to dig fast,” Hunk pointed out.

“I like that. Let’s get started,” Shiro said and pulled out his com. “I need every machine we have that can dig to the landing site ASAP. While that’s happening, I need every truck to the port to collect water. Send out a notice to the immediate public to clear the area.”

“Shit, we’re really building a lake…” Pidge said. Hunk grinned.

“This is gonna be so cool.”

     An hour and a half later they were about a hundred feet deep with water on deck to pour in. At that time Shiro got word that the ship was slowed down by another hour from their aircrafts, so he okayed the decision to dip even deeper. An hour later they got to two hundred feet deep and started pouring in the water. Pidge and Hunk remained on site to give on the spot calculations for Shiro, and even helped with some of the work. It wasn’t Pidge’s favorite thing to do, but she missed Keith and was too antsy to just wait for him to land. There was half an hour left once they filled up the lake, and they could see Keith’s ship approaching fast. There were now a total of four aircrafts tugging it back with wires, and Pidge felt relief at the sight of its slow and steady approach.

“Oh my god he’s so close,” Hunk said with awe.

“Is this your first time watching a landing?” Pidge asked. He nodded.

“Yeah, I mean…I know I’ve been here for a few years now, but…” his eyes were trained on the incoming ship. “…this is crazy.”

“Newbies…” Pidge muttered shaking her head.

     As much as they all wanted to watch, Shiro decided it was best to give some room so they didn’t get swept away but the splash the landing would cause. Pidge loaded up her SUV with Hunk and Shiro and a few others from the site, and drove out as far as they could before they got the okay over the radio to start heading back. 

     Water was everywhere. The site was completely soaked, and all the soil was muddied and pushed around from the impact. It took a while to get back to the site, but once it was in sight Pidge was more than eager to get Keith out of the carrier. Others had arrived first, but once Shiro made his way to the lake with the others they all allowed him to examine the result. The lake was half as full as it started, but the ship was safely floating in the middle. Shiro pulled out his mobile screen and opened Keith’s camera. Inside was a little shaken up, but he was sitting. He appeared to be waiting for Shiro’s call and smiled when he saw the others face pop up.

“Hey buddy,” Shiro said.

“Hey. Uh…everything is fine in here. I’m not sure how we’re gonna get out,” he said.

“We’ll get a helicopter to pull you out,” Shiro assured him. Keith nodded.

“Sounds good. I’ll see you when we get out,” he said.

“See you then, buddy.”

“Ooooo he said ‘we’!” Hunk pointed out. Shiro turned off the device and gave Hunk a not-so-happy look.

“Please be professional about this around Keith and the life form. He’s been through a lot,” he said. Hunk nodded sheepishly.

“Sorry sir. I’ll contain my excitement,” he replied.

“Thank you…”

     Another hour passed before the helicopter arrived. It hooked onto Keith’s ship and gently lifted it out of the lake and on the land next to the shore. Shiro advises everyone to give some space, and choose Pidge to come with him as he approached the ship. Pidge was finding it difficult to contain her own excitement. Keith was actually a pretty good friend of hers. He was kind of her replacement brother when Matt went on his four year mission for the new satellites. The past seven years she struggled to find a replacement for both until Matt came back. Even then, she missed Keith as a friend too.

     When the door opened, Pidge held her breath. It was a slow door, or maybe that was Pidge’s impatience. Either way once it was open, her hopes of greeting Keith with a hug was let down as he emerged carrying a humanoid figure wrapped up in a blanket. He looked between Shiro and Pidge and smiled.

“Hey…it’s been a while,” he said. Shiro smiled back and nodded.

“It has been. It was tough not being able to communicate until you came back, but I’m glad you made it,” he said. Keith shrugged.

“Feels like I left yesterday,” he lied. Pidge could tell he was lying.

“Well it’s been seven years since I saw you, so once your arms are free I’m expecting a hug,” Pidge said crossing her own arms. Keith chuckled and nodded.

“You have my word, Katie.”

“Alright. Let’s get you two back to base,” Shiro said.

“Sounds like a good idea.”

 

* * *

 

 

     Lance held on closely to Keith in the helicopter. He had slept through most of the journey back to earth, and was in an out through the crash. Now he was wide awake and filled with fear from the creatures around him. Keith held him tightly, but had his attention on the other humans around him. The short one, Katie, sat on Keith’s other side and held most of his attention. Lance assumed this to be Keith’s potential lover. He didn’t like that.

     Across from them were two larger men. One with dark skin and one with an amputated arm. His bionic arm had impressive technology that Lance couldn’t help but linger his stare on. They both were relatively silent, but the darker one had an obvious interest in Lance. He didn’t like that either.

     When they arrived at what the humans called their “base”, Keith scooped him up in his arms again. Lance knew he was fully capable of walking himself, but he didn’t bother to mention it. Keith was his only guarantee of safety, and he had no choice but to trust him despite his urge to leave. He couldn’t leave. He was now a prisoner, and the thought scared him. Keith’s arm provided a cathartic sense of security. In his head he knew it was a false sense, but he couldn’t think too hard about it or else he would go into a panic and be taken away to be experimented on.

“What is it’s name?” Shiro asked as they walked through the halls of the base.

“His name is Lance,” Keith announced. Lance gritted his teeth, but refused to speak in front of the other human.

“Does he speak?” Shiro asked.  
“Yes, but I think he’s scared right now,” Keith said glancing down at Lance’s face buried in his shoulder.

“What for?” Shiro asked.

“He says he doesn’t want to be experimented on and tortured,” Keith answered. Shiro furrowed his brows.

“What makes him think we would?” He questioned. Lance had to resist the urge to hiss. What a stupid question.

“He says we’re notorious for capturing aliens and doing terrible experiments on them,” Keith explained. “It’s why we don’t get a lot of visitors.”

“Oh…I see.” They stopped at an empty chamber, and Shiro held out a key card. “This will be Lance’s room until further notice. We will be discussing with the pentagon what to do next.”

“Shiro…” Lance risked a peek at the other man, and Shiro tried to keep his eyes on Keith. It was hard, and he kept looking back at Lance. “We _can’t_  do any experiments on him. Maybe we can take some samples and take some tests, but we _can’t_  experiment on him,” he said sternly. Shiro finally managed to look at Keith again.

“I understand-“

“I’m serious, Shiro,” Keith interrupted. Shiro looked at Lance again. “I promised I’d keep him safe.” Shiro nodded.

“Okay. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure they don’t experiment on you,” he said directly to Lance. Lance blinked and then looked away.

“Thank you…” Lance murmured. Shiro nodded and then handed the key to them. Lance wiggled his hand out from under the blanket and grabbed the card.

“I’ll see you guys later.”

“Yeah…”

     Once Shiro walked away Keith gently put Lance down. The alien still clung to Keith’s shoulder as he unlocked the room, and then allowed the human to guide him inside to the bed. He settled on the mattress and sighed as he finally felt comfort. His hand clung tightly to Keith’s arm, and the astronaut stayed sat next to him.

“Thank you,” Lance said.

“Don’t mention it.”

“I still don’t trust you,” Lance announced. Keith nodded.

“Understandable.”

“If I wasn’t injured and without my ship…” Lance grimaced and put pressure on his wound. “…I wouldn’t be here.”

“I’m aware.” Lance glared at him.

“Don’t pretend to understand me.”

“I don’t,” Keith replied simply. Lance sighed and shook his head.

“Sure…” they were silent until Keith started to stand up. “Where are you going?” Lance asked a little too quickly.

“You need to rest so you can heal. Food will be brought to you in a few minutes. After that I’d recommend a nap,” Keith said.  
“Why would you need to leave for that?” Keith furrowed his brows.

“I have a lot of things to do, Lance. Follow up reports. Doctor visits. Blood work. That’s just to make a few things,” Keith said.

“Can’t you do that in here?” The panic in his voice was starting to bleed through. Keith’s face soften as he realized how terrified Lance was of being left alone. He grabbed his com from his belt and pressed to speak button.

“Can I get my paper work and a change of clothes in the life form’s room? He’s anxious and I need to accompany him,” Keith requested. Lance pouted at that.

“You make me sound hopeless…” he murmured.

“Yeah, I’ll send it with the food. Should we arrange something for you to accompany him at all times?” Shiro replied.

“That would be a good idea,” Keith answered.

“I’ll get started on that then.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” Keith looked at Lance after Shiro finished the conversation.

“You’re not hopeless,” Keith assured him.

     Lance merely started to unwrap himself from his blanket and shivered when his bare skin met the cool air. Since they met, Keith hadn’t been able to get a good look at Lance. Sure he saw the obvious things like his eyes and his blood, but his body wasn’t what he previously thought it was. His fingers had a little bit more webbing between the fingers than most human hands, and his skin was dark with a not so subtle green undertone. His hair a mousy brown, and his face was decorated in iridescent markings. His entire body had darker spots like freckles, and his canine teeth happened to be a little longer and sharper. His legs were still covered by his pants, but his feet were visually the same as any human foot.

“Don’t stare at me,” Lance said. Keith shook his head and reached down to help move the blanket from under the alien. Once it was on top of Lance the food arrived.

“Please tell me that’s fish,” Lance looked at the dish with wide eyes.

“Fish?” Keith questioned. He resisted the urge to laugh a little.

“I’ve heard so much about it, but I’ve been too scared to come here. A couple of people from my home planet have managed to blend in and tell us stories. They say fish is almost the same, if not better, as our most expensive delicacy.”

“Oh…” Keith uncovered the dish and found chicken with rice. Next to it was a bowl of spinach, tomatoes, avocados, and seasoning. He uncovered the next plate and found the same meal. “It’s chicken, but I’ll put in a request for the next meal.”

“Chicken…” Lance wiggled himself up to a sitting position and looked at the peculiar food Keith handed him. “What is all this?”

“Carbs, protein, lipids, and minerals,” Keith answered.

“That’s such an annoying and vague way to describe food,” Lance said. Keith chuckled.

“I dunno what else to tell you. It’s meat and carbs,” he said as he grabbed his own plate and paperwork. Lance watched as he sat at the table in the corner and started eating.

“Is it good?” Lance asked.

“Best meal I’ve had in fucking seven years,” Keith said with chicken in his mouth. 

     Lance continued to watch before looking down at his plate and picking up the fork. He cut a piece of the chicken like he saw Keith do, and lifted the piece to his mouth. Flavor instantly burst across his tongue as he felt the soft, plush texture of the fat, and the juicy tender muscle between his teeth. The seasoning flooded over and under his tongue, and filled his mouth with a sense of happiness. Only the most expensive food on his planet tasted like this. He could only assume this was the best earth had to offer. He looked at Keith again and found the astronaut already looking at him.

“Like it?” He asked. Lance nodded gently.

“What’s it taste like?” Lance pulled the fork from his mouth and swallowed.

“…carbs, proteins, lipids, and minerals…” Keith smirked.

“Told ya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaa what do you guys think so far? I’d love to hear theories about Lance and his alien species. I might confirm a few if you’re right lol. I’m anxious to hear people’s thoughts on this :0
> 
> Message me on tumnlr: fryingpanss.tumblr.com


	3. infatuation

“Where’s Keith?” Pidge asked.

“He’s with Lance,” Shiro answered.

“Who’s Lance?” Her tone was less than patient.

“The life form he found.”

“Why is he with the alien?”

“Lance seems to have some separation anxiety. Especially since his main fear is being experimented on. Keith apparently promised he’d protect him from unethical practices,” Shiro explained. 

     Pidge frowned and followed Shiro out of the elevator. They walked through the halls of the pentagon until they reached the room their meeting was held in. Soon they were accompanied by three other gentlemen in suits. They entered with a single briefcase and set it on the table.

“We hear Mr. Kogane stumbled upon an alien life form,” the oldest gentlemen said. Shiro nodded.

“That’s correct.”

“Where is Mr. Kogane. I find it inappropriate that he is missing from this meeting,” the man to the left said.

“He’s currently attending to the life form. It has grown rather attached to Keith and expresses anxiety whenever he tries to leave,” he said. The main oldest man gave Shiro a skeptical look before turning his attention to the briefcase. He pulled out several photographs of individuals and a sheet of lab results.

“This life form Mr. Kogane found is apart of a species that is a frequent visitor to earth,” he said. Pidge leaned over the table to examine the photographs closely. Shiro picked up the lab sheets.

“Ninety-seven percent match in DNA?” Shiro furrowed his brows as he read the information. Pidge picked up a photo to carefully look at each individuals features. On the back of each photograph had descriptions.

“Slight webbing…greenish skin…freckles…consistent athletic build…iridescent markings…what is all this?”

“We call them human-ish. They share an incredible amount of our DNA, but also have a one point three percent surplus to amphibian DNA,” the third gentlemen said.

“That would explain the webbing and the skin…” Shiro mused out loud.

“So you’ve encountered this species before?” Pidge asked.

“Yes, but we haven’t been able to fully approach one. We’ve collected samples of their DNA, but our contact with them has been brief. They are extremely skeptical and critical of humans, and will attack if cornered to ask questions,” the first man said.

“I can see that,” shiro nodded.

“So…what do you want to do with the life form Keith brought back?” Pidge asked.

“Naturally, we would like to take some tests and observe its behavior. If it can communicate with us, we’d like to ask questions. Of course, we’d also like to conduct a series of exper-“

“No experiments,” Shiro said sternly. The three men all started hard st Shiro.

“Sir-“

“You can take samples and tests and observe all you like, but this creature only agreed to come to earth on the terms that we wouldn’t harm or experiment on him,” Shiro replied.

“Sir, these experiments would not only teach us about this species, but also humanity,” the third man said.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t allow that to happen. We will keep this being in our care until we decide-“

“No need to be dramatic, Mr. Takashi,” the older gentleman said. “We accept your terms.” Shiro smiled.

“Thank you, sir.”

“I can conduct the tests and collect the samples. My lab partner and I specialize in collecting data,” Pidge said. The man nodded.

“We’ll check in a month from now. Hopefully your findings will be enough to tell us more than what we already know.” Shiro nodded.

“Sounds good.”

 

* * *

 

     Lance woke up to see Keith dressing himself. He was shirtless and trying to find the bottom hole of the sweater in his hands. His confused expression was rather cute, and Lance was finding his infatuation with this human troublesome. He enjoyed the view of Keith’s bare skin for a moment before it was covered once again. Keith then fixed his hair from the sweater messing it up. Lance then announced his consciousness by gently rolling onto his stomach, and resting his head on his knuckles. Keith looked over at him and then walked to the new cart of food.

“I told them you’d like some fish. I hope you like salmon,” he said uncovering the plates again. Lance immediately perked up at the mention of fish and took a deep breath. A smile spread across his face.

“I don’t know what salmon is, but if it’s fish I’m more than happy to eat it,” he said. Keith carried the plates to the small round table and then walked back to offer Lance a hand. The alien look down at the limb extended to him, and then looked up at Keith.

“What do you want me to do?” Lance asked.

“I’m trying to help you up so you can walk to the table,” Keith replied. Lance furrowed his brows.

“I’m supposed to…grab you?” Keith nodded.

“Unless you don’t want to eat. If that’s the case I’ll send it ba-“

“No!” Lance winced as he pushed himself up too quickly. Keith gently put pressure on the bandage and helped Lance roll back onto his back. “I hate this stupid gash.”

“How did you even get this?” Keith asked. Lance was quiet for a moment.

“It’s not important…I’ll tell you another time,” he said before trying to sit up again.

     Keith gently guided him up right, and then helped him up on his feet. They shuffled to the table, and Keith walked back to the cart to give Lance his new shirt. It was a plain white tee shirt, but it was the softest material Lance had ever felt. He slipped it over his frame and sighed with relief.

“Feels good to be dressed,” he murmured.

“There’s a pair of pants to go with it. You can change into them once we’re done eating,” Keith said and sat down to eat his salmon. “Make sure not to eat the skin. It’s not fun to eat.” Lance furrowed his brows in confusion as he watched Keith scoop up the fish on his fork and effortlessly pull the meat from the skin. He grabbed his own fork and mimicked the astronaut.

     The flavor and texture that entered his mouth was incomparable to anything he has ever eaten in his life. The smooth buttery meat was pleasant, and the juice that flowed between his teeth tasted like being nurtured and coddled when he was young. He closed his eyes to fully immerse himself in the taste and the feel, and completely melted from the bliss it gave him. A slight chuckle prompted him to open them again, and he saw Keith smiling at him. He had kind of an awkward smile, but it was still endearing and made Lance blush.

“Sorry, it’s just entertaining to watch you experience human food,” he said.

“How can you eat it without being so overwhelmed? Do you eat like this regularly?” Lance asked. Keith shrugged.

“On earth, yeah. The past few years I’ve been eating so much vacuum packed and freeze dried bullshit that this is honestly the most I’ve ever enjoyed eating in a long time,” he replied.

“You ate…’bullshit’? What is bullshit?” Lance asked. Keith almost choked on his food.

“Wow…um…don’t say that around other people. I don’t mean literal bullshit. I mean food that tastes bad,” Keith explained. Lance blinked.

“So…bullshit is food that tastes bad?” Keith pulled a face and scratched his head.

“Uh…it’s more generic than that. It’s like…a way to describe something that ridiculous, or nonsense. Like…’oh, that show was bullshit’, or…’I don’t wanna deal with that bullshit’,” he explained.

“Bullshit is nonsense?”

“Yes. Exactly,” Keith confirmed.

“That’s…kinda bullshit,” Lance said. Keith laughed a little and continued to eat his salmon.

“Yeah, I guess it kinda is,” he nodded. Lance continued to look at Keith, and a few seconds later Keith met his gaze.

“So peculiar…” Lance murmured. Keith looked away as color started to dust his cheeks.

“I think we look pretty similar.”

“It’s not necessarily looks. Humans are just…” Lance felt overwhelmed by the way Keith’s dark eyes looked at him. “…peculiar.”

“I guess we are pretty strange. Is it hard to find good food where you’re from?” Keith asked. Lance nodded.

“I’m not exactly wealthy. You would need an extreme amount of money to eat something even close to this,” Lance said.

“That sounds bland. What do you normally eat?”

“The standard diet comes from a plant that is native to my planet. When you crack it open it has a firm, but mushy fruit inside that has protein and carbohydrates in one. It gives us necessary nutrients, so we consume that for most of our meals. It has little to no taste, and it doesn’t ooze like these foods,” Lance said.

“Ooze?” Keith asked. Lance took another bite and closed his eyes again to fully take in the texture.

“When I chew…it’s almost bleeding. Except it’s not dense like blood.”

“Oh, that’s the seasoning and the way it’s cooked. I like that part too.” Lance shook his head.

“This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” Lance announced. Keith gave an awkward smile again.

“That’s-“

“Keith, can you and Lance come to the lab?” Pidge asked over the com. Keith paused for a moment, and he could instantly read the fear on Lance’s face. He picked up his com and spoke into it.

“We’re finishing up breakfast. We’ll be there in a few,” Keith reported back.

“Okay. Let me know when you’re on your way.”

“Sure thing.”

“I’m not going,” Lance said firmly.

“Lance-“

“You said you wouldn’t let them experiment on me,” Lance reminded him.

“And I’ll keep that promise, okay? Pidge probably just wants to take some samples of your DNA. I also need to have a quick physical since I’ve been in space for so long,” Keith assured him. Lance remained stubborn and shook his head.

“I-I don’t want to-“

“Lance,” Keith reached for his hand and gently clasped it between his own. “You’re safe as long as you’re with me,” he continued to comfort him. Lance looked at their joined hands and felt himself relax under the knowledge that Keith would protect him.

“…you promise?” He questioned quietly. Keith nodded.

“I promise you,” he said as he gently stroked Lance’s skin. The alien felt his heart race before finally nodding.

“Okay…I’ll go.” Keith smiled.

“Good. Now eat. Pidge is waiting for us.”

 

* * *

 

 

     As they walked to the lab, Keith found out that he had accidentally taught Lance what hand holding was. Through all the halls, he refused to let go of Keith’s hand. So they walked into the lab hand in hand, and he blushed when Pidge’s eyes landed on them and then dropped down to their joined hands.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” she said trying not to laugh. Keith rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“C’mon Pidge. Your not being as mature as I remember you being,” Keith teased.

“You still haven’t given me a hug,” she reminded him.

“Right,” he gently slipped his hand from Lance’s grip, and walked over to give Pidge a hug. Lance instantly felt nervous at Keith’s withdrawal, but felt better when he came back to guide him closer to Pidge.

“Lance, this is Pidge. She’s one of my best friends. She’ll be taking your samples,” he introduced. The small human looked up at Lance with a rather forced smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said holding out her hand. Again with the hands…

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” he said reaching out and awkwardly grasping her hand. She gave a firm shake, and Lance pulled his hand away once she let it go.

“I need to be examined for a few minutes, but Pidge isn’t going to hurt you. She’s going to take some swabs of your mouth, scrap off a few dead skin cells, and draw some blood. Okay? She’s not gonna do any experiments,” he promised. Lance looked between the two humans before nodding.

“Okay…h-how long will you be gone?” He asked.

“About five minutes. I’ll be back once it’s all over, and then the doctor can look at your wound. I’ll be right over there, so you can see me the whole time. Okay?” Keith gently touched his shoulder. Lance nodded. “Alright. I’ll be right back.”

     Lance watched Keith wall away, and then down at the other human. Pidge was turned to her lab equipment and held a vial with a cotton swab inside. She already put her gloves on while Keith was making sure he was calm, and was ready to get started.

“Go ahead and take a seat on this stool,” Pidge instructed and opened the vial. Lance did as she asked. She stood in front of him.

“Open your mouth for me please,” she said. 

     Lance did so, and she gently rubbed the cotton swab against the inside of his cheek. She placed the swab back into the vial and returned to her station. When she returned with a fatter, shorter container. She held it in front of his face.

“Go ahead and spit.” Lance did so.

     Through out the process, Lance had given her some of his hair, his dead dry skin flakes, his blood, and even the sweat off his brow. By the time she was organizing all the containers, Keith was back with the doctor. Lance felt relieved to see him again, and stood up to be closer.

“Lance, this is Matt. He’s another good friend of mine. He’s gonna be checking your wound,” Keith told him. Lance looked at the smiling man in his doctors coat, and couldn’t help but notice how similar he looked to Pidge.

“Hi, I’m Matt. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you,” he said holding out his hand. Lance merely looked at it this time.

“Why do you need to look at my gash?” Lance asked. Matt withdrew his hand.

“That’s a good question. Wounds are very vulnerable to infections and bacteria because it gives those germs direct access to your body. I just wanna check it and make sure you don’t have any infections or illnesses,” he explained.

“Why can’t Keith do it?”

“Lance, I’m not a doctor. I wouldn’t know what I’m looking for,” Keith told him. “I’ll be here the whole time,” he promised again. Lance clenched his teeth before sighing and nodding.

“Okay…”

     He stripped himself of his shirt, and they uncovered the bandages. Matt closely examined the wound and the stitches, and slipped on a pair of gloves to gently prod at the stitches. After that he cleaned the wound again, and redressed it with clean bandages. Then he threw his gloves away and allowed Lance to put his shirt back on.

“Alright. Good news is that you’re free from infection. Not so good news is that you’ve stretched the skin around your stitches. Try to limit your movements, and go slow until we can take these out,” the doctor advised. Lance nodded.

“Okay…”

“Why don’t we go back and get you some more rest,” Keith proposed. Lance nodded.

“That sounds good.”

“Okay. Let’s go then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaa idk what the pentagon does exactly. I think it’s military? Anyways, they’re involved bc I said so.
> 
> Tell me what’s up in the comments my peeps
> 
> Message me on Tumblr if you wanna scream: fryingpanss.tumblr.com


	4. half

“Any word from him?” Allura asked. Coran shook his head.

“His radio has been dead since the attack,” he replied. She sighed.

“I hope he’s safe,” she murmured.

“He’s more than capable,” coran assured her.

“I love him like a brother. Sure, he’s annoying, but…” she trailed off gazing at the vast expansion of stars in front of her. “…I’d be dead without him.”

“I know. His lack of status always seemed to be a problem for others, but you always saw him for who he is,” Coran said. Allura rubbed her shoulders and shook her head.

“No…he ran off because of _me_. I should’ve stopped him before he breached the space port. He wouldn’t be hunted if I just…listened to him.” Coran placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“You did what you could,” he assured her. She looked at the stars again.

“I just hope he’s okay…”

 

* * *

 

 

     Pidge had been in her lab for over a day pouring over the specimens she had collected. The DNA in front of her was unlike anything she had ever seen before, and she couldn’t tell if it was wonderful or frightening. The sheet of lab results from the Pentagon was a good point of reference, but it also made it slightly confusing. It wasn’t exactly matching up.

“How’s the data analyzing going?” Shiro asked as he entered the lab. Pidge looked up from her screen and gave him a concerned look.

“I dunno if this is the same species,” she announced. Shiro frowned.

“Oh? What’s the problem?” He asked. She handed him the sheets the pentagon gave them.

“These samples…granted, they’re not the best samples, but…they’re just slightly off,” she said. “These samples have a much higher similarity to amphibians, but…Lance is ninety- _eight_ point _seven_ - _three_  percent human. His amphibian surplus is only…point three-five,” she explained as she pulled up Lance’s results from her computer. Shiro looked between the two sheets.

“He’s still very similar to the original sample. I’d say…ninety-nine percent similar,” he said.

“I noticed that too. It’s just slightly different in the smallest ways. Like his hair color and his eye shape,” she said pulling up his genome and pointing to different parts. “But then you get to the amphibious sequences, and…they’re just not the same. Like, here is supposed to be the sequence for gills, and we can see it in the original samples, but in Lance…” she pointed to the chain in his genome. “It’s just the same as human lungs.”

“He’s different…”

“It got me thinking…what if he’s half human?” She asked. Shiro blinked.

“Looking at all this, that would definitely make sense. Maybe we should ask him,” he suggested.

“If he’s willing to speak to someone other than Keith,” she grumbled.

“Hey…” Pidge looked up at Shiro. “I know you missed him a lot. Keith missed you too, but his mission isn’t over just because he came back to earth,” he reminded her. She nodded.

“I just…I wish I could get more than a ‘hey buddy’ and a half assed hug. I mean…that alien…he’s almost possessive,” she said remembering the look on his face when Keith hugged her.

“You’ll have plenty of time to catch up with Keith soon, and as for Lance…be a little easy on him. He only came because he was injured. I think it was a little naive of Keith to promise him what he did, but it’s what he had to do.”

“Yeah…I guess you’re right,” she replied glumly. Shiro ruffled her hair.

“You know it, kiddo,” he smiled. Pidge groaned and fixed her hair.

“You’ve been so geezy ever since you hit your thirties,” she grumbled. He laughed and turned to walk out the lab.

“It‘s always a pleasure talking to you, Pidge.”

 

* * *

 

 

     Watching Lance sleep was a little creepy. At first Keith had plenty to do to keep himself occupied, but once he finished all his reports and ate his lunch…there wasn’t much to do except watch the sleeping alien five feet away. He wasn’t a fan of the weird intrusive feeling he got, but Lance was faced away from him and that made it even more tempting to keep watching.

     Lance was a beautiful creature. Anyone could tell by simply looking into his eyes. His face was sharp and polished, and his body was toned and healthy. His skin still looked nourished despite its green undertone, and his hair was only starting to look a little too shaggy. Staring at his shoulders as they moved with his breathing was wonderful by itself. So wonderful that Keith started to become concerned with how close he was starting to feel with Lance. How much trouble it could get him in if he fell for his subject.

     His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Shiro stepped in. Keith gently raised his finger to his mouth and got up to follow him outside. They exited out into the hallway and closed the door.

“What’s up?” Keith asked.

“I just visited Pidge in the lab, and…she noticed something while she was looking at the DNA,” he said.

“What did she find?” He asked. Shiro flipped open his folder and handed the original samples from the Pentagon.

“Apparently, the government was already aware of this species. They’ve had numerous encounters with them, but hadn’t managed to actually communicate successfully,” Shiro explained and handed him a photo of a person who looked similar to Lance at the zoo.

“Okay. So what did Pidge find?”

“She…found a lot of similarities…but a difference as well,” he said. “She was looking and his genome, and he’s lacking a couple of key genetic codes from this species. His webbing isn’t as extreme, his skin is supposed to be green at his fingertips. Most of all, he had human lungs instead of gills. These creatures were all found around the coasts, but you found Lance on the moon and he could breathe in your cabin just fine.”

“So he’s half,” Keith concluded.

“That’s what we’re thinking. It would be helpful if you could ask him about his parents or maybe show him the photo to see if he recognizes it as someone from his species,” he said. Keith nodded and handed back the samples, but held on to the photo.

“I’ll make sure to do that after he wakes up.”

“Thanks, buddy. Let me know when you find out,” he said and gently patted Keith’s arm.

“Sounds good,” he replied and then turned to open the door.

     Shiro walked away, and when Keith walked into the room he found Lance rolling over and rubbing his eyes. The alien blinked at Keith and the glanced at the door as it closed. He gently sat up and tried to rub more of the sleep away. Keith couldn’t help but smile and put the photo down on the table.

“How are you feeling?” Keith asked.

“Tired…did you go somewhere?” He questioned. His voice sounded groggy and tired. It was kind of cute.

“Just outside to talk to Shiro. Pidge looked at your DNA samples. Apparently the government already knew about your species and had samples from them,” he said. Lance nodded.

“Probably…the rich can afford to travel and disguise themselves a little. They like to travel here because we look so similar, it’s fun to trick the humans.”

“What’s your species name?” Keith asked as he came over to sit on the side of Lance’s bed. The alien’s cheeks grew hot, and they flushed forest green.

“I…I can’t pronounce it in any human language. Honestly, it might be best if I didn’t…” he trailed off, sheepishly turning into himself and slouching over to hide himself.

“It’s okay. I wanna hear it,” Keith urged. Lance blinked up at him, and those eyes killed him every time. A second passed and then a strange noise emerged from Lance’s throat. Keith furrowed his brows. “Oh…”

“We communicate differently. Our vocal chords are able to make an additional sound that’s impossible for humans to make. That and we are able to hear certain tones that humans can’t,” Lance explained.

“That’s really cool,” Keith said. Lance looked away blushing harder.

“It’s okay…”

“This question is kind of…out of the blue, but…” Lance glanced back at Keith and he tried to prepare himself for what he was gonna ask. “Are you…half human? By any chance?” He asked. Lance’s face fell.

“How…How could you tell?” He whispered.

“Pidge was comparing your DNA to the other samples we had and…there were some differences,” he said. Lance drew his knees to his chest and held them closely to himself.

“I…try to forget it, but…yes. I’m half human. My mother was young when she visited earth, and spent the night with a human. She thought we couldn’t reproduce with humans, so she didn’t worry about protection. Eleven months later…I was born and…brought shame to my family,” he told Keith. The astronaut frowned.

“Lance…”

“It was obvious when they looked at my fingers, and again when my gills didn’t grow in. When my feet didn’t web, when my skin stayed so brown, and when my eyes stayed white. I was so different at home. I’m different here too,” he continued.

“I’m so sorry,” Keith murmured. “I can kind of relate. Not on your level, but…my mother was Korean, and my dad was white. Ever since I was born I didn’t quite fit in either side. I still kind of struggle with my race and my nationality,” he said.

“I was taught about the different races of humans. They never taught us about race mixing. Mostly because it’s strictly forbidden where I come from,” Lance said. Keith furrowed his brows.

“That sounds kinda backwards,” he said. Lance shrugged.

“It still happens. They either look like one side or the other and they go with it.”

“Damn…”

“But…” Lance rubbed his arm and looked at Keith with his dazzling eyes. “I’m glad you shared that with me,” he said quietly. Like it was a secret. Keith nodded.

“Yeah. It’s no biggie,” he replied.

“Biggie?” Lance tilted his head in confusion. Keith tried to stifle a laugh.

“I mean like, it’s not a big deal.”

“Oh…so you tell a lot of people about this?” Lance asked. Keith shook his head.

“No, but…I don’t mind sharing it with you,” he replied. Lance looked down at Keith’s fingers as they fiddled with each other. He remembered their warmth. The coarse feeling of his calluses, and the softness of his grasp.

“Does that make me special to you?” Lance’s voice was barely above a whisper. Keith sighed and scratched the back of his head.

“I-I dunno. It’s probably best if you weren’t,” Keith answered vaguely.

“But…” Lance moved his arms and legs away from his chest and moved a little closer. “…am I?” Keith looked at him and then let his eyes take in all of Lance’s details.

“I’m here to protect you. That’s all,” he said simply. Lance frowned. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He laid back down and pulled the covers over his shoulders.

“Then protect me,” he grumbled.

“Lance-“

“Just…leave me alone.”

“Like alone-alone?” Keith asked. Lance hesitated before nodding.

“Not for a long time, but…I know I’ve been a burden to stay with.”

“Lance, you’re not a burden. This is my promise to keep,” Keith said in a gentle voice.

“Please. I know Pidge would like to see you more.” Keith sighed.

“Okay.”


	5. Manipulation

“Keith!”

     When Keith entered the lab he was instantly met with a hug. He hugged Pidge back and chuckled a little. It had been so long since he got to properly enjoy his friend’s presence. Sometimes the hardest part was not being able to chat with Pidge and pass the time. Being able to hug and talk to her was almost like a dream. It was easy to forget how much he missed her being preoccupied with Lance, but it suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks once he had some free time.

“What’s up dude? How’s the science?” He asked.

“As it usually is. Man, it’s been so long,” she smiled and hugged him again.

“I missed you like crazy,” he said.

“Uh, yeah. I missed you too. You suck for agreeing to ten years,” she replied and hit his stomach. Keith tried to not react, but she had a pretty good punch.

“I mean, I’ll be able to retire once we figure out what to do with Lance, so it was kinda worth it,” he pointed out. Pidge rolled her eyes and turned back to her work.

“Excuses. But speaking of Lance, why aren’t you babysitting him?” She asked. Keith shrugged and sat down on one of the stools.

“I dunno. I think I upset him.”

“You upset him enough to make him want you to leave? That thing is so clingy,” she said.

“He’s a living breathing being, you know? You even discovered he’s half human,” he reminded her.

“Did he confirm it?” Keith nodded.

“Apparently he’s been harassed about it his whole life.”

“Poor baby,” Pidge said apathetically as she peeked into her microscope.

“I can’t help but feel like you’re not too happy with our guest,” Keith picked up. Pidge shrugged.

“I dunno. I was just really looking forward to seeing you again and catching up,” she murmured. “It’s been a really _long_ time. I know time worked differently up there, but…it was a really _really_ fucking long time.” Keith was silent and then nodded.

“It…felt like it too. I could see how time would work if I was on earth, but I could count days within seconds.” Pidge turned and leaned against the counter to face Keith.

“And I get that it’s been hard for you, but…I dunno. It wasn’t fun to get you back, but only see you when the alien was comfortable with it. I just wanted to catch up,” she said. Keith nodded.

“That makes sense. I’m sorry I haven’t been around.” Pidge shook her head.

“You shouldn’t have to apologize. I’m just glad you’re home,” she said. Keith nodded again.

“It’s good to be home,” he replied.

“When did Matt say you could start your testosterone again?” She asked. Keith let out a slow puff of air.

“About a month…it feels fucking terrible,” he replied.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine how awful that would feel.”

“I mean, I’m glad I had my top surgery done already. Binders would be too dangerous to wear in space, and it was the only thing that didn’t make me feel like shit.”

“I’m sorry, dude. It’ll be much better when you start your hormones again,” she assured him. He gave a forced smile and nodded.

“I hope so…”

 

* * *

 

 

     Lance didn’t like the current situation he was in. The room they put him in was dark except for the light above him. The table he was sat in front of was cold, and the chair was even colder. He fiddled with his nails as he waited to be questioned and evaluated. There was a mirror on the wall in front of him, and Keith assured him he’d be behind it the whole time watching. Knowing that Keith’s eyes were on him made him feel better, yet self conscious at the same time. Did his eyes look as tired as they felt? Was his skin as dull as it was in the mirror? Could he see just how terrible he felt?

     His thoughts were interrupted when Shiro and Pidge entered the room. They sat down across from him and put down a file in front of him.

“Sorry for the intimidating setting. We didn’t have a lot of spaces to choose from,” Shiro said opening the files. He pulled out a few photo graphs in front of Lance and moved them closer to him. Lance looked down at the photos of creatures that looked like him.

“Are these people apart of your species?” Pidge asked. Lance nodded.

“Do you recognize any of them?” Shiro added.

“They’re politicians and celebrities…middle class people used to be able to afford to go, but the economy has collapsed since then. Only the rich and famous have the money to travel to Earth,” Lance answered.

“How did you get here?”

“I was chased,” Lance replied vaguely.

“By who?” Pidge questioned.

“Something like what you would call police…” he trailed off and glanced at the mirror. He looked down. “I…ran away and breached the space port. I did something illegal,” he confessed.

“Would you say you came here seeking asylum?” Shiro spoke. Lance shook his head.

“I was injured. I didn’t have a destination. I knew I was going to die, so I tried calling for help.”

“Who hurt you?”

“Their beasts…it tracked me down and destroyed my ship. I had to put on my suit quickly, but it managed to puncture my suit and scratch me before I could activate my escape ship.”

“How did you end up on the moon?”

“This solar system was the closet to me. I got as far as your moon before my air was starting to run low. I hid in one of the craters until I was almost completely out of air. I used some of my last breaths calling for help over my radio.”

“How far away is your planet?” Pidge asked. Lance thought for a moment.

“We…are in opposite corners of the galaxy. You call it the Milky Way, but we call it something else. It’s impossible to pronounce in English.”

“How are we so far apart and yet so similar in DNA? Also, how did you manage to travel light years across the entire Milky Way?” Pidge’s tone turned harsh. Shiro placed a hand on her shoulder.

“My people mostly travel through worm holes. We bend the universe to where we want to be using energy and technology. Our planet has been around much longer than Earth. Time is a little different on the other side of the galaxy,” he explained calmly.

“How do you speak such fluent English?” Shiro asked.

“It’s one of the languages we were taught when we were young incase we decided to travel there. We can produce certain sounds that humans can’t, and when someone first learns English they have a heavy accent to it.”

“Where were you born?” Shiro’s next question surprised Lance. He furrowed his brows and avoided eye contact.

“Why do you want to know?” He responded.

“Keith told us you confirmed your status as half human,” Pidge said. He glanced at the mirror and then back to his fingers.

“I was born in my mothers bathtub…everyone told her hospitals would kill me once they saw how different I was. Cross breeding is…heavily discouraged. Even punishable by law,” he said.

“Are you sure you weren’t born on earth?” Shiro asked. Lance’s memories of everyone telling him the story of how he was created and born, and he nodded.

“She only visited once.” Pidge put down the DNA samples the government had.

“Can you read these graphs?” She asked.

“No, I’m not a scientist,” he said with a sassy tone. “I’m from a lower class family. All I know is basic bullshit I learned in the school my mother could afford.”

“Bull…shit?” Shiro questioned. Lance looked away blushing.

“Never mind that…”

“Would you say you have a similar psychology to humans?” Pidge interjected.

“There are a lot of similarities…” Lance said looking at her skeptically.

“What happened to your mother?” Her voice was quiet. It was the gentlest he hard heard it, and the question instantly brought tears to his eyes.

“…she left,” he said as a drop rolled down his cheek. Shiro instantly wrote something down. “Without a word, she left me. She left our house and our pets and my little sister. I came home from work one day and waited for her, and she just…n-never came back,” he told them. His body starting to shake as he tried not to sob.

“Do you think your mother leaving is the reason you have attachment issues?” Pidge provoked. He blinked up at her and furrowed his brows.

“What kind of question is that?”

“I just want to know if there’s an explanation-“

“You can ask me all the questions you want, but you _cannot_ play mind games with me to write down notes about!” He shouted. Suddenly the door opened and Keith walked in to Lance’s side.

“Enough. He needs to get rest before he hurts himself,” Keith said and reached down to guide Lance to his feet. The alien was still shaking pretty bad, and had to fight the urge to seek comfort from Keith.

“Lance, I’m sorry-“

“Shiro, please…just let him calm down,” Keith said. 

     His tone was calm, but his eyes were pointed. It was obvious that Keith wasn’t happy with how the interview went. Nevertheless, he nodded and allowed Keith to take Lance out of the room and back to his chambers. After all, Lance gave them more than enough information.

 

* * *

 

 

“How are you feeling?” Keith said handing Lance a glass of water. His fingers were still trembling when he accepted it and drank the whole glass at once. He wiped his face and handed it back.

“…used,” he rasped.

“I’m so sorry…we agreed on all the questions before hand. I didn’t think Pidge would ask anything like that.”

“She’s just jealous,” he scoffed and looked away. Keith frowned.

“Jealous of what?” He asked.

“You know what. Don’t play dumb.”

“Because I spend more time with you?”

“It was obvious the moment I saw how special your relationship with her is…” he murmured. “You can go spend time with her. You don’t need to baby me.”

“Baby you?” Keith repeated back. “Lance, I’m here to _protect_  you. You’re on a foreign planet that would take advantage of you if someone didn’t stop them, and I’m that someone.”

“I don’t need you all the time. I was just being…anxious.”

“That’s okay,” Keith assured him and then rubbed his arm. Lance tensed up at the contact, so Keith pulled away. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s just…caught me off guard. You can touch me,” he allowed. Keith slowly approached him and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“You can trust me, okay? I’ll make sure they’re not upsetting you or poking at you,” he promised again. Lance nodded and met his eyes. They were so deep and so serious. He could drown in them and die happy.

“When I was little…my mom would…comfort me when I was upset. Do you…have a way that humans comfort each other? Physically?” He asked. Keith nodded.

“We call it a hug. I’m not very good at them,” he replied sheepishly.

“Can I…have one?” His voice was low and shaky, but Keith smiled anyways. He moved a little closer on the side of his bed and wrapped him up in a slightly awkward, but warm hug. Lance slowly wrapped his arms around Keith in return, and buried his face into the human’s neck.

“Whatever you need to feel safe. I’ll always be there for you,” Keith whispered.

     Lance held on tighter. It felt good to be so close. To be touched and to be held. It reminded him of when he was younger, and he still had a family. The memories brought more tears to his eyes and he couldn’t help but cry into Keith’s shoulder. The human rubbed comforting circles into his back, and that only encouraged him to cry harder. Sobs ripped from his throat, and for the first time in years he allowed himself to indulge in the cathartic release of crying like a baby. Keith didn’t say a word, and let him soak his sweatshirt with tears.

     When he finished he pulled away and wiped his nose. He avoided eye contact and hugged himself instead. Keith still had a comforting hand on his arm, and Lance was still shaking to the touch. He sniffled.

“Sorry…” he said. Keith shrugged.

“I’m not upset about it,” he replied.

“I’m sorry I’m keeping you away from everyone…”

“Don’t be. It’s kinda cool hanging out with an alien,” Keith smiled. Lance laughed a little and shook his head.

“It would probably be more fun hanging out with an emotionally stable alien…”

“Hey, we all cry. It’s a natural part of life. Even animals cry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why do you keep apologizing?” Keith asked. Lance shrugged.

“I guess I’m used to it.” 

     Keith was silent. He gently moved to sit next to Lance on the bed and had his arm around his shoulders. Lance instantly fit in the crook of his neck, and Keith rested his cheek on Lance’s head. The alien let his eyes flutter shut and enjoyed the feeling of Keith’s body so close to his.

“I’ll accept your apology…as long as you promise me you’ll try not to say sorry so often,” he said. Lance sniffled.

“Sor…okay,” he agreed. Keith chuckled, and hearing the vibrations so close to him made Lance shiver. Keith pulled the covers up and held him closer.

“You should get some rest. Emotions are the quickest way to drain your energy.” Lance nodded and let himself relax more against Keith’s body.

“Yeah…” he agreed. Keith rubbed his back again. Funny how someone so different was exactly the same as him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snap me: ksenialynns
> 
> Yoooooo it’s been a second…it’s getting kinda gay
> 
> ALSO: yeah you read that right. Keith is fucking T R A N S G E N D E R


	6. All is fair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa I forgot about a story again Who Is Surprised?

     A week passed, and Keith couldn’t help but wonder where the time went. It was true that he spent most of his time with Lance as he went through the tests and the questions required of him. He was only as cooperative as he was because of Keith’s constant comfort and support. He was there to come in when the questions got too intense, or if he needed to take a break. He was required to stay in his chambers while he was being tested, and Keith was there with him. Whenever he napped Keith went out for some air, and whenever he slept Keith went to his own chambers to sleep. It was a temporary arrangement. He still hadn’t returned to his home in Arizona, and while he missed it he knew his job wasn’t done yet.

     Pidge was still just as cold to Lance as the first day. It was upsetting to say the least, but Lance could understand. He felt like a burden to her and to Keith. No matter how many times Keith said it was okay he still felt awful. Sometimes he’d pretend to nap so Keith could get some alone time, but once he was alone the silence in his small room was almost deafening.

     Once his stitches were removed and his wound was healed, he didn’t need to spend so much time napping. Instead he was given exercises to do so they could monitor his heart rate, his physical abilities, and his overall physical health compared to a human. They started him out easy so he could regain his strength after being on bed rest, and then after a week of that he was put on a more intense program for record keeping. He wasn’t a big fan of it, but did it anyways.

     Something about being watched and times and measured by Pidge and Shiro made him uneasy. Thankfully Keith was there too, but that also made him self conscious. What if he wasn’t strong enough? Would his physical abilities impress him? Why does he care so much what Keith thinks of him? Is he good enough?

     Eventually, the recording came to an end. On the last day he couldn’t help but give a sigh of relief and sit down at the edge of the treadmill. Pidge handed him a water bottle and a towel.

“How’d I do?” Lance asked breathing heavy.

“Well, considering you have moderate to good health, you performed slightly better in every test compared to a human of your exact height, weight, and measurements,” she replied. Lance took a big drink from his water bottle and then wiped his face.

“So what does that tell you?” Pidge pushes up her glasses and glanced down at her papers again.

“Well…it tells me that despite having the same amount of muscle mass, your body carries more power than ours. That usually means your body has a more efficient way of digesting and storing energy. Also, your body fat seems to be non existent. The little that you do have is firm, and only pliable in warm conditions. That might have something to do with your low body temperature,” she explained. Lance nodded.

“Damn. Sounds smart to me,” he replied. Pidge had to fight a smile and turned her head away.

“That’s…” she shook her head and tried harder to ward off the laugh threatening to leave her throat. Lance smiled.

“Did you find that funny?” He asked. She shook her head more firmly this time and then coughed.

“No…not at all.” Lance chuckled a little.

“I didn’t expect you to be a fan of dumb humor,” he said.

“I didn’t expect you to have jokes,” she replied. Lance shrugged.

“I was kind of the funny once at home. No one liked me enough for me to be comfortable in school, but at home…” he trailed off and smiled at the memories. “…I could make my little sister laugh all day. She had the sweetest giggle too.”

“How old is she?” Pidge asked. Lance thought for a moment shook his head.

“Hard to tell. The way time works when you travel through a wormhole is…tricky. She could be one hundred and thirty seven by the time I get home…if I can get home.” Pidge was speechless. “But she’s five years younger than me. She was about to graduate her tertiary school and go off into community teachings when I left. She wants to be a teacher,” he told her.

“How come?”

“I tried to hide it, but…she saw how the teachers and the kids treated me. She wanted to be the one who could make a difference for someone like me.”

“That’s…very sweet of her,” Pidge mumbled.

“Yeah…she’s a real sweetheart.” 

     Lance took another drink and then glanced at Keith talking to the engineer. They appeared to be having a serious conversation, and from the way the engineer was looking at Lance it looked like he wanted to talk to Lance. Despite that, Lance couldn’t help but let his eyes slide down Keith’s body. He himself looked physically fit, and Lance was becoming concerned with how much he thought about Keith’s body and what he did with him. Specifically what he _wanted_  him to do with it.

“You’ve grown pretty attached to Keith,” Pidge noticed. Lance turned his eyes back to Pidge and then took another drink.

“Sorry. I know you’re really close to him. I’ve been trying to give him space,” he said.

“I noticed.” They both nodded awkwardly before Pidge cleared her throat. “Do you…I mean…do your species…court each other?” She asked. Lance gave her a confused look.

“Uh…what?”

“Like…dating? Would you say your species values romance?”

“Oh…uh…not anymore. We used to, but then our government became corrupt,” he replied.

“But you do feel romantic and sexual attraction, right?” She asked. Lance frowned.

“What’s this about?” He questioned. Pidge blushed.

“Nothing, I just…Keith is like a brother to me, and I want the best for him,” she said.

“Okay?” Lance responded. She sighed and pushed up her glasses again.

“You’re not the only one who had grown attached, okay? So…just be careful.”

“Careful of what?”

“Of how it comes across when you basically eye fuck Keith from across the room,” she said bluntly. Lance blushed. In the short three weeks he’s been living on earth, he had learned a lot of curse words and cultural sayings.

“I-I wasn’t-“

“Just…be more subtle about it, okay? If our supervisors knew there was something going on between you and Keith, they’d shut it down instantly,” she warned.

“Th-theres nothing going on between Keith and I-“

“Just…be…careful,” she warned and held his stare. He blinked back at her before nodding and looking down.

“Gotcha,” He murmured and took another drink.

“Thank you,” Pidge said before turning and leaving. It wasn’t long before Keith and the engineer took her place, so Lance stood up to greet them.

“Hey,” he smiled. Keith smiled back.

“Hey…”

     Lance looked sweaty, and yet so good. It was the kind of sweaty that made his skin glow, and his eyes bright. Brighter than they already were. His smile was dazzling, and his body looked good when it was so toned. Keith tried to find the words he wanted to say next, but the creature in front of him was so mesmerizing he couldn’t even think in English. Eventually, Hunk took the lead for him.

“Hi, I’m Hunk,” he said holding out his hand.

“Oh! I know what this is,” Lance said before accepting the handshaking grinning. Keith bit his lip.

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. I’ve heard so much,” he said.

“Really?” Lance asked. Hunk nodded.

“Yeah. Keith talks about you nonsto-“ Hunk yelped as Keith stepped on his toe and cleared his throat.

“He means when we have updates. You’re a popular topic of conversation for us all since we’re all working with you,” Keith said. Lance rolled his eyes.

“Oh please. Don’t try to pretend I’m not your every thought and desire,” he teased. Keith raised a brow.

“I’ve been…working on your suit,” Hunk groaned. Lance turned his attention back to the engineer.

“Was it really damaged? I swear it kept me alive for at least a couple days,” he said. Hunk shook his head.

“No, no, it was in pretty good shape. I even managed to reverse engineer it and make another one after I repaired it. That’s why it took me so long to catch up with you,” he said.

“Oh…really? That’s amazing,” he said.

“Yeah?” Hunk said with a sparkle in his eye.

“Yeah, thats like really cool, dude.”

“Do you wanna see it? We can go down to my lab and test it out,” Hunk proposed. 

“Heck yeah, man,” Lance grinned.

“Uh Lance needs to eat before you guys do that,” Keith butted in.

“Oh, is it lunch time already?” Lance asked.

“Yeah, what do you want today?”

“Salmon!” Lance said excitedly.

“You had that yesterday,” Keith pointed out with an adoring smile.

“It was so good. I want it again,” Lance replied simply. Keith laughed a little and shook his head.

“You are an easy creature to please,” he teased. Lance gave a more upturned flirtatious smile.

“Well with a handsome astronaut around to give me everything I need, what else could I possibly ask for?” He said. Keith rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Go ahead. I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” he said. Lance nodded and winked before walking away.

“Whoa, you were just flirting with an alien,” Hunk whisper-yelled as Lance left the room. Keith looked over at Hunk. He had forgotten he was even there…

“What? That’s just…it’s nothing,” Keith said.

“It was definitely flirting,” Hunk insisted. Keith shook his head.

“Nah, that’s just…he’s starting to feel more comfortable. Whatever he wants to do I’m not gonna discourage it,” he explained.

“Still. He was flirting, and you were flirting back,” Hunk replies stubbornly.

“You’re reading too much into it, man. I doubt he even realizes that’s what he’s doing.”

“He’s a smart guy. He’s been here for almost a month. I think he’s picked up on it,” Hunk pointed out. Keith just continued shaking his head.

“It’s…nothing serious.”

 

* * *

 

 

     In all honesty, Lance forgot that he was hungry. His urge to be clean was much greater. With his newly granted ability to walk around without Keith, he learned that he could also bath by himself. That meant awkward sponge baths were gone, and showers were in. He valued the alone time it gave him, and the independence that he missed so much. It was a simple, yet freeing experience.

     The facility he was in was meant to house a large group of people. It wasn’t NASA or anything like that. From what Keith told him, it was more like a personalized area fifty one for Lance owned by the government. Apparently because he was half human and from a species they had yet to get their hands on, he had some special treatment. Shiro told him that the pentagon had some involvement, and after Keith explained what the pentagon was it made a lot of sense.

     He was still thinking a lot about Keith. In his head he knew that it wasn’t allowed. It was actually possibly the quickest way to get him killed if he tried to make a move on Keith. Even if his life wasn’t on the line, he was almost confident that Keith wouldn’t reciprocate. Pidge hinted that Keith enjoyed his company, but that didn’t mean that he liked Lance to the extent that he liked Keith. It was almost laughable for him to think Keith would ever return his feelings in depth.

      These kinds of thoughts plagued his mind as he washed his hair. He could feel the sweat melting off his body, and felt a sense of relief from being clean. The soap always left his skin softer than anything he had at home. The water temperature was pleasant, and to be able to stand under hot water for so long was a luxury he could only afford once every few months. Even then, he usually let his sister use up the hot water. It was always worth it when he saw her afterwards with the most relaxed smile he had seen her wear in a long time.

“Shiro?”

     Lance looked over his shoulder. Just as he was about to rinse his hair, he heard footsteps walk in after a familiar voice filled the showers. He pushed the bubbles off the top of his head and frowned. Who was in here? Why were they looking for Shiro?

“Shiro are you in here? Have you seen-“ Keith stopped talking as he walked in. Lance turned bright red and froze with wide eyes. Keith blinked at him and couldn’t help but look down at his body. He quickly returned his eyes to Lance face and turned bright bright red.

“S-sorry! I thought you were Shiro because he showers at weird times of the day,” he explained. 

     Lance shyly turned himself away to rinse out the shampoo. Like, what else was he supposed to do? Do humans just walk in on other people while they bathe? Was this normal? Why was he so flustered if it was normal? Once the suds were gone he turned his head to see Keith still standing there dumbfounded. Why was he still there?

“I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” Lance said as casually as he could, and then reached for the conditioner. Keith cleared his throat.

“Right…sorry,” he said. Lance waited for the sound of his footsteps disappear out the door before he let out the breath he had been holding.

“Fuck…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Add me on Snapchat and COMMENT YOUR USERNAME if you wanna be added to my private fan fic story: ksenialynns


	7. promises

     It had been almost two months. Allura spent every night in her observatory watching the stars for her friend. Lance’s younger sister sometimes visited her there, so she made sure she was always available after her school hours. Ever since he left she had become noticeably more depressed and anxious. It was painful to watch the poor girl fall apart.

“Do you think he’ll ever come back?” She asked one time. Allura pulled away from her telescope and tried to smile to the best of her ability.

“We can always hope, but…something tells me he’s very far away from home,” she replied. Marcy looked down at her book and sighed.

“He better be back soon. My birthday is in a couple weeks, and if he misses it he’s in big trouble,” she said. Allura smiled for real. It was nice when she pretended everything was normal.

“You’re absolutely right, but he wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she promised. Marcy nodded.

“The government repossessed our house today,” she announced. Allura felt her heart sink.

“The…really?” Marcy nodded.

“I came home, and they posted a note saying I had a month to move out. It mentioned failure to meet mortgage payments and official investigation of the G.I.T,” she told her. Allura felt heavy at this news.

“Well…you can stay with me until we get that all sorted,” Allura said. Marcy fiddled with her pencil and tried not to cry.

“Thank you…”

 

* * *

 

 

     Lance woke up from a dream. It wasn’t a very pleasant dream, and he found himself gasping for breath as he recalled the events the played in his head. Questions. Memories. Pain. It all flashed behind his eyes and tears started to soak into his pillows. How could he let so much time pass?

     He instantly ripped off his covers and tugged his shirt on. When he left his room he realized just how cold this foreign place really was. He shivered with every strip and made his way to Hunk’s lap. Earlier that night he saw the suit Hunk replicated and felt more sad than he had in a long time. That night he spent sobbing into Keith’s shoulder felt like a distant memory, but it was still relatively fresh. Thinking about it again made him angry with how neglectful he had been.

     Hunk was asleep at his desk, and Lance didn’t care to make his presence known. Instead he silently picked up his original suit and reached inside of it. From the interior pocket, he pulled out a blueprint from the escape ship he hijacked. It was pretty straightforward, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to build it himself or anytime soon. He at least needed to try.

“Please…don’t make me…I don’t wanna eat the big cake…the lunch lady is gross…so wrinkly…” 

     Hunk snored behind him, and Lance couldn’t help but be tempted to reach out for help. Hunk proved to be very capable with his hands and building skills. Maybe it would be worth asking. He seemed like a pretty chill guy. Maybe he wouldn’t report him for just asking to help escape.

     He decided it was worth it and walked over to tap his shoulder. Hunk immediately snorted and shook his head as he woke up. The engineer blinked up at Lance and smiled sleepily.

“Hey, what’s up buddy?” He asked.

“I need your help,” he said with determination.

“Yeah, sure. What do you need?” He yawned. Lance plopped the blue print on the desk.

“I need to go home,” he announced. Hunk frowned and then picked up the blue prints.

“This…this is genius,” he murmured.

“I need to return to my sister. I fear she has no one to help her. My friend, Allura, might’ve helped her, but she’s definitely without a house since I’m not there to pay the mortgage,” he explained.

“Damn, theres even mortgages on the other side of the galaxy?” He groaned.

“Yes, and I need to save my sister,” he said more firmly. Hunk sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“Okay, _officially_ , I can’t help you escape. I could get fired, and not reporting this is technically a violation,” he said. Lance felt his heart stop. “But…if I make this a personal project, they do allow me to use material and time for it as long as it’s innovative, and this is _definitely_  innovative,” he said looking at the prints again. Lance’s eyes brightened.

“Really?”

“Yeah, and like no one reports the little things. As long as we both ‘agree’…” he used air quotes and a wink, “…that this is for me and not for you, then I think we can pull this off,” he said. Lance let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh my god. Thank you so much,” he said and hugged him. Hunk giggled.

“Oh my gosh, you know how to hug!” He noted. Lance pulled back blushing slightly.

“Yeah, Keith taught me,” he said.

“Oh yeah? I bet he’s taught you a lot of things,” Hunk said wiggling his eyebrows. Lance furrowed his.

“What do you mean? Of course he has. He’s my companion.”

“Oh…that sounded cute. I was making a dirty joke, but yeah of course he has,” he replied. Lance blushed even deeper. Keith _just_ explained to him what a dirty joke was the other day.

“I-I dunno what you mean. There’s nothing dirty happening with Keith and I,” he stuttered.

“I believe you…but perhaps there’s something else?” He questioned. Lance rubbed his shoulder self consciously.

“N-nothing at all. He’s here t-to teach me and assure my safety,” he replied. Hunk nodded.

“Yeah, that makes sense…except you’ve been here almost a month and I think you’ve gotten to the point where you understand that we’re not gonna hurt you,” Hunk pointed out. Lance shrugged.

“He’s…my friend then.”

“Your friend that you flirt with openly and undress with your eyes from across the room?” He questioned. Lance gawked at him. “Yeah, I saw that.”

“I-I…” He was speechless. Out of defenses. Was he that obvious?

“It’s okay. Keith it totally smitten with you too. He’s just a little shy when it comes to showing it,” Hunk assured him.

“Smitten…?”

“He likes you, Lance. Like…more than a friend,” Hunk told him. Lance shook his head.

“No, h-he’d never…”

“I was serious, dude. He _always_  manages to bring you up when we talk. Like we’ll start a normal conversation, and he’ll find a way to connect it back to something you said or did. It’s actually kind of adorable.”

“That’s…I-I can’t imagine Keith feeling that way about me. I mean…” he looked down at his slightly webbed fingers. “…we wouldn’t fit.”

“Uh, aren’t you half human? Clearly we can make it fit,” Hunk replied.

“No, like…I dunno. I doubt he would like me the same as…I like him,” he said that last part very quietly.

“You sure about that? He literally had problems talking to you earlier.” Lance shrugged again.

“I constantly forget words. Mostly because English is my third language.”

“Well, English is his first, so he has no excuse.” The alien shook his head and sighed.

“Let’s just focus on this, please. I can help you out but this needs to be done soon. My sisters birthday is coming up,” he said.

“Oh shit, really?”

“Assuming we’re on similar time frames, yes.”

“Okay, I’ll get started. You get some rest.”

“Okay…”

 

* * *

 

 

     On the way back, he passed by Keith’s room. It was less of a pass, and more of a complete stop. He stood there looking at the door, and found himself craving the man’s company and warmth. Not just warmth in temperature, but also the warmth in his eyes and his smile. Lately he had become more comfortable with the expression on his face. Lance cherished it every time he managed to bring it out. Making Keith laugh reminded him of how he made his sister laugh. It made him miss her more.

     Suddenly, he found himself standing in front of the door. His fist hesitated hovering over the steal, and he took a deep breath before timidly knocking on it. Nothing happened, and he couldn’t hear anything on the other side. He stood there for a moment, and decided to put his hand down and continue his trek to his own room. Before he could take three steps, the door opened, and he froze where he was. Keith peeked outside his room, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Lance turned to look over his shoulder, and then turned to face him completely.

“Uh…hi,” he greeted. Keith leaned his back against his door frame and then crossed his arms. His chest was bare, and his pajama bottoms were loose. It was…distracting.

“Hey,” he replied a lot more calmly than Lance thought he would. “What’s up?”

“S-sorry. I just…” Lance bit his lip and looked away. “I dunno what I’m doing. I’ll uh…go back to bed,” he replied. Keith frowned and removed himself from his wall. He gently grabbed Lance’s wrist to prevent him from even trying to walk away.

“Hey…” he looked Lance in the eye.

“What happened?” 

     In that instant, Lance started crying again. All it took to break him down was Keith’s genuine concern with his emotional well being, and that was torturous. The same man wiped away his tears and started to tug Lance towards his bedroom. Lance followed, but couldn’t help but feel like he was breaking a rule. They got to his bed, and Keith left to close his door very quickly. When he returned Lance was sat on the edge of the bed. Without a word, Keith sat down and hugged him. Lance accepted the affection and sniffled into his neck again.

“Marcy?” Keith asked. Lance nodded. “You’ll see her again. I promise,” he cooed.

“You remind me of her sometimes,” lance said and then started to sob. Keith’s heart ached for the alien and held him tighter.

“How so?” He asked.

“Just…your attitude. Th-the way you talk to people. She’s also v-v-ery reserved.”

“Yeah…don’t push yourself, you’ll feel sick,” Keith warned. Lance nodded and cried a little harder instead of talking.

“I-I can’t imagine how sh-she must feel…I-I-I just left her…”

“I’m sure you had a reason,” Keith assured him. Lance shook his head.

“I’m so selfish…”

“Lance, people don’t just leave the people they love for no reason,” Keith said seriously. Lance was quiet in response, and merely sucked in a painful breath.

“I just hope she’s okay.”

“She will be.”

“How could you possibly you know that?”

“…because she’s related to you, and…you’re amazing,” Keith whispered. Lance’s breath stuttered, and he pulled back to look at him.

“I’m…y-you really think that?” He asked. Keith pushed some of his hair out of the way and nodded.

“Of course. I’ve never met someone like you. You’re wonderful,” he said. Lance blushed and blinked at him with wide eyes. “I mean…you’re also kinda noisy…and hyper…and a little hard to take seriously…” Lance smiled and playfully hit Keith’s shoulder.

“Wow, you’re so good at compliments,” he joked. Keith laughed.

“What can I say? I think your sense of humor is rubbing off on me,” he replied. Lance giggled a little and looked down bashfully.

“That’s silly…” Keith touched under his chin and guided Lance’s head up to look at him again. Those eyes looked at him closely, and Lance felt his heart race.

“Have I ever told you how pretty your eyes are?” He asked. Lance blinked and looked back at his flat disks.

“I dunno. Maybe once, or…maybe I made that up,” he murmured.

     Maybe it was because he was tired from waking up in the middle of the night. Maybe it was the way Lance’s eyes sparkled from fresh tears. Maybe it was just the connection he felt to the creature in front of him. Whatever it was, Keith couldn’t held but want to lean in and kiss Lance long and hard. To feel his lips and his warm breath mingle with Keith’s. It wasn’t the first time Keith wanted to do that, but he was so overwhelmed with the want he couldn’t help but look down at his lips for a long second. He was so vulnerable…but almost too vulnerable. Keith didn’t want to take advantage of that. So instead he pulled his hand away and put some space between them.

“Let’s get some sleep,” he said. Lance let out a heavy breath and nodded.

“That sounds good.”

“You can…stay here if you’re still feeling upset,” he offered. Lance smiled at him.

“Thank you…”

     Keith crawled into the bed, and Lance followed. The human pulled the covers over them and settled his arm around Lance. They laid there for a moment with their eyes open. Lance was watching Keith’s chest move with his lungs, and Keith couldn’t look away from the sleepy look on Lance’s face. For someone who just learned what a hug was a couple weeks ago, he was oddly comfortable touching down Keith’s chest. His fingers traced over his heart, and pressed to feel his heart beating. He let out a breath before meeting Keith’s eyes.

“I…don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future…” he whispered. “…but I want you to know I’d miss you if we were separated,” he said. Keith blinked and then frowned.

“Are you scared of when the men from the pentagon visit next week?” He asked. Lance looked away and rubbed his thumb against Keith’s warm skin.

“I was just thinking about it. I miss my sister because I love her and she was the only person who saw me for who I really am. Now I feel like you see me that way too,” he explained as a green blush creeped up on his cheeks. Keith brushed his fingers against the warmth and then gently pulled Lance closer against his chest.

“We’re gonna get you home someday. I promise,” Keith said. Lance fully wrapped his arms around Keith and nuzzled against his neck.

“You make a lot of promises to me…” he murmured.

“Have I broken any yet?” Keith challenged. Lance chuckled a little and shook his head.

“Not yet…”


	8. comfort

     When Lance woke up he instantly wanted to fall back asleep. He could feel Keith pressed against his back, and the man’s warm arms around his waist. Something about it felt right. Like two puzzle pieces fitting together. Lance tried to wave that thought away, but as he did so Keith only held him tighter. He felt hot at that point, and suddenly felt a little awkward. Without knowing the best way to approach the situation, Lance touched the hand around his abdomen and gently caressed it. Keith let out a sound and nuzzled against Lance’s nape. That made him even warmer.

     It took him some time to sit and properly enjoy his situation. The way he held on to Lance made him feel safe and protected. The strangest thing Lance found about humans was their insatiable urge to express physical affection, and their constant enabling attitude about it. When he was young it was tolerable, but as he and his classmates grew up they were all discouraged from maintaining physical contact. It was everywhere. In Shiro’s warm hand on Keith’s shoulder, in the constant hugging from Pidge and Hunk, and most of all from the way Keith expressed his desire to comfort Lance. Letting himself relax and experience it again…drastically made him feel better.

“Mmm…” 

     Keith moved again and slipped his hand away from Lance’s caressing only to return and intertwine their fingers. The last time Lance tried to hold Keith’s hand the human had to explain the implications it came with. Perhaps he was implicating something by this, or maybe he was just doing whatever his sleepy subconscious was telling him. Whatever it was, it made Lance feel like he was floating. He still tried to remain realistic, but it was nice to indulge in the fantasy that he was a normal human being and that he and Keith were in love.

     Almost an hour passed like that before Keith finally woke up too. He took a deep breath when he woke, and gently stretched his body before relaxing deeper into Lance’s back. The alien pushed himself more into Keith’s body in a less than subtle way. Needless to say Keith noticed and chuckled a little.

“I know you’re awake,” Keith hummed and let go of his hand to wrap both his arms tightly around Lance’s body. Lance cracked a smile and turned to face the man. Keith settled his face in Lance’s chest and shyly rubbed his thumb against the aliens waist.

“I wasn’t exactly trying to hide it,” Lance replied. Keith grunted, and Lance giggled a little.

“Sure,” he yawned. Lance didn’t respond for a second and touched the arms holding him so tight.

“Y’know…I’m not very sad anymore,” he announced.

“Mmm?” Keith hummed.  
“You told me hugging was a way to comfort someone…or to be excited or happy,” Lance reminded him.

“I’m pretty comfortable,” Keith replied and rubbed his nose against Lance’s neck. The tip was cold and made Lance shiver closer to the affectionate human.

“Yes, but…is there something I’m missing? Is this something else besides comforting and joy?” Lance asked shyly. Keith sighed and held Lance’s hand again.

“Sometimes…but don’t worry about it, okay?” He assured him. “If you’re uncomfortable I can stop-“

“No…um…” Lance blushed and fiddled with Keith’s fingers. “I…like this,” he decided. Keith sweetly squeezed Lance’s fingers before nosing at the aliens hair.

“I like it too…”

“Keith! I just checked Lance’s room, and…”

     Keith and Lance quickly sat up to see Hunk at the door. He was panting and staring at them in shock. The astronaut could see Hunk thinking and connecting dots, and quickly got out of bed to talk to him.

“Hey-“

“Did you fuck an alien?” He blurted loudly. Lance turned a violent shade of green and pulled the sheets to his nose. Keith gave him a less than impressed glare.

“Nothing like that happened, okay? Lance was just having issues sleeping,” Keith replied sternly. Hunk looked between them as Lance started to put the sheets back.

“Like…for real?” He asked. Keith rolled his eyes.

“ _Yes_ , and I think you should _leave_  before you have anymore word vomit.”

“Oh…” Hunk finally managed to read the room and realized he walked in on something. “Okay. Uh…just tell Lance I have something for him later,” he said.

     Keith nodded and Lance made eye contact with the engineer. Hunk merely nodded and turned to leave. Keith sighed and walked back to the bed. He stood in front of Lance and ran his fingers through his hair as he stretched. The alien couldn’t help but look at the skin before him. His body was different in the light, and by the time he put his arms down Lance was sat on the edge and reaching to touch down his abdomen. Keith flinched at the touch, not expecting it, and made Lance pull away shyly.

“Sorry. You just caught me by surprise,” Keith said.

“Can I…” he didn’t even need to finish his question before Keith nodded.

“Sure.”

     Touching bare human skin was fascinating. The texture was only slightly different from Lance’s own skin. It was almost rougher, and gripped on to things rather than slide off of it like Lance’s skin. Keith was covered in little hairs, and looking at the hairs closely was interesting to say the least. He touched his ribs with both hands, and Keith started to bite his lower lip. It was almost pained, but Lance didn’t think much of it. Instead he felt up to his chest, and felt the scars under his pectorals. Keith sucked in a breath and pulled Lance’s hands away.

“That’s enough,” he said. Lance frowned, his wrists still in Keith’s grasp.

“Why? What happened there? Are those scars?” He asked.

“It’s not important to you,” he responded coldly and turned to pick up his shirt he took off last night. 

     Lance suddenly felt gutted. It was almost like rejection, and yet not at the same time. Keith was clearly upset by something Lance did, but he couldn’t figure out why. So he watched Keith dress himself before he felt a tear roll down his cheek. He tried to wipe it before Keith turned around again, but his sniffle gave him away. Keith turned in time to see the wetness in his eyes and cursed himself for being insensitive.

“Lance,” he said gently. The alien blinked up at him, and let his eyes follow as Keith crouched in front of him. The astronaut sat directly between his legs before hugging him tightly around the waist. “I’m sorry, okay?” Lance tried to hold back his crying, and then finally gently wept into Keith’s shoulder.

“S…sorry,” Lance muttered.

“C’mon. Don’t tell me you’re turning into a cry baby,” Keith teased pulling back to look at him. Lance shook his head.

“I just…” he touched Keith’s shoulders and dared to touch a little over his chest. “…I don’t wanna upset you. I like what we have…”

“I like it too. I just…have things about me that are personal,” he explained. “We can be close and still have our own things, okay?” Keith assured him. Lance thought back to the previous night and his conversation with Hunk. He let out a deep breath as it started to make sense.

“…okay…” he said. Keith smiled and wiped away his last tear.

“C’mon. Let’s get breakfast.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Take a deep breath in…” Keith did so as Matt pushed the needle into his skin. “…and out,” he said and pushed. Once the syringe was empty, Matt pulled out the needle and Keith let out a sigh of relief. The doctor smiled.

“Feel better?” He asked. Keith nodded and smiled.

“You have no idea…going that long without hormones made me feel like I’m starting all over,” he said.

“I can see why you’d feel that way. It does set you back, but that’s okay. You’ll feel much better in about a month,” Matt assured him as he disposed of the needle in a sharps container.

“How long until I work up to my previous dose?”

“It’ll be about three months until you get back to there, but it’ll feel like nothing,” Matt answered. Keith nodded and the pulled his shirt back on. “Does it feel weird being back on earth time?”

“Yeah, it’s kinda weird to think seven years has passed,” Keith replied and smoothed the wrinkles over his satisfyingly flat chest.

“That must be a real trip. I know it was weird coming back after only four years. Space is beautiful, but I’m glad they permanently assigned me as the earth doctor,” he said with a smile. Keith chuckled.

“Yeah they promised me compensation for life. The government is basically gonna pay for everything for the rest of my days,” He gloated.

“Aw, lucky bastard,” Matt teased. They laughed, and then Keith hopped off the counter.

“Thanks for keeping me healthy,” he said as he started walking out.

“No problem, buddy.”

     Keith left the lab and walked down the halls to Hunk’s quarters. He heard talking before he knocked on the door, but once his fist collided with the metal there was only silence. Suddenly the door slide open and Hunk appeared to be blocking the door with a part of his body. He was leaned against the frame with his arms posed awkwardly on his hip and the door. Keith raised a brow.

“Hey! Buddy! What’s up?” He greeted with a strained voice.

“Uh…nothing much. I just wanted to check in since those guys from the pentagon are coming back in a few days,” he said. Hunk nodded.

“Yeah! Makes sense, uh…I’m doing good,” he said vaguely. Keith was silent for a minute trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

“Okay? What are you working on?” He questioned.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you finished the suits, and you usually always have a project. So I was just curious if you started anything yet,” he explained.

“Oh! Right, um…” he glanced back at his workbench and then bit his lip. “…I’m just messing around.”

“With what?” Keith pressed feeling annoyed with Hunk’s secrecy. Over the few weeks Keith had become acquainted with Hunk he quickly learned that he was always eager to share what he was working on.

“I found some blue prints in the suit…so I wanted to try and build a model of it…”

“Why didn’t you-“

“Did you just come back from Matt? It feels like you’d have a checkup about now,” Hunk interrupted. Keith was taken aback by the question, but answered anyways.

“Yeah…I mean, I got really excited when he called me in. I thought he might start me on T again, and I was right,” he shared. Hunk smiled.

“That’s wonderful! How do you feel?” He asked. Keith smiled and nodded.

“A lot better. It’s gonna be a while until I’m back to the same dose, but it’s better than nothing.”

“That’s awesome dude. I’m happy for you,” he said patting Keith’s back. Keith nodded again.

“Thanks, man.”

“Well, I need to get back to my project, but let me know if you ever need anything,” Hunk said with a gentle smile.

“Okay. Will do,” Keith replied and then turned to walk back down the hall. As he walked away he couldn’t help but wonder where Lance wandered off to…

 

* * *

 

 

     Hunk let out a deep breath when Keith finally left. He closed the door with his back and instantly made eye contact with Lance. The alien was hunched over in the corner, and looked just as relieved that Keith had left them.

“That was a close one,” Lance said.

“You’re telling me,” Hunk sighed. “Are you gonna tell him you’re planning to leave?” Lance stood up and rubbed his arm guiltily.

“Uh…I dunno yet. I thought about it, but…I dunno,” he said. Hunk frowned.

“Dude, he’d be devastated if you didn’t at least tell him,” Hunk told him. Lance looked down shyly and shook his head.

“I think you’re reading too much into this…there’s nothing special between us.”

“I’m not reading into _anything_ , Lance. I straight up _know_ that Keith wouldn’t like that. I haven’t known both of you that long, but it doesn’t take a genius to tell he cares about you,” Hunk insisted. Lance sighed.

“I dunno how I’d tell him,” he admitted.

“If you’re trying not to hurt him, trust me when I say not saying anything would hurt him more,” he said. Lance bit his lip.

“Okay. I’ll tell him.”


	9. wonderful

     Over the few days they had left before the pentagon said they’d come in to check, it became a regular thing for Keith and Lance to share a bed. The first night Lance sought out Keith again, but after that Keith just automatically joined Lance in his room at bed time. Needless to say Lance was flustered when he walked into see Keith drying off his hair in his pajamas. Despite that, they settled into bed. The few nights they spent together, Lance noticed he slept much better. So much better he wondered why they hadn’t started sooner.

     On the last day Lance woke up to an empty bed. Keith’s absence reminded him that he still needed to tell him his plans to leave. He and Hunk had already made decent progress on the ship, and it was easily ready within the next couple days. They were aiming to get Lance out of the atmosphere the day after the men from the pentagon would come. That was two days away. Two days until he saw Marcy again.

     Lance flinched when the door opened and Keith walked in. He was so entranced by his own thoughts, that he hadn’t considered that Keith might return. With him he pushed in a cart with two covered plates. Lance felt a sense of deja vu as Keith stopped and pulled off the covers.

“I got you’re favorite,” he said with a smile. Lance smiled back and got out of bed. He draped himself over Keith’s shoulders and looked down at the steaming salmon. The smell was enough to make his mouth water.

     “I’m gonna miss this when I go home,” Lance mumbled without thinking. Keith paused before grabbing the forks. It registered in Lance’s brain quickly after he said it, and he felt himself hold his breath.

“Are you leaving sometime soon?” Keith asked casually.

“Um…” he didn’t want to tell him yet. “I dunno. I mean, I figured once your government got what they want I’d be free to go,” he said pulling away to sit at his table.

“Oh,” Keith carried the plates over with a pensive look on his face. He hadn’t considered the fact that Lance would want to return home. “Would you ever come back and visit?” He asked. Lance took his plate and picked up the fork.

“What? Would you miss me if I left?” He teased and didn’t hesitate to take a bite.

“I mean…yeah. I’d miss you a lot,” he admitted. Lance stopped mid chew and looked up at him. Keith’s brow was furrowed as he took a bite of his own meal.

“Oh…” he swallowed. “…really?” Keith met his eyes and nodded before taking another bite.

“Normally when you care about someone and they leave, you miss them,” Keith replied. Lance frowned.

“I…didn’t think you would miss me a lot.”

“What makes you think that?” Keith questioned. Lance shrugged and turned his eyes to his breakfast.

“I didn’t think I was that important…”

“Would you miss me?” Keith turned it onto him, and Lance instantly knew the answer. He looked up at Keith again and blinked at him.

“I’d miss you more than anything,” he said barely above a whisper. Keith nodded.

“So the feeling is mutual,” he said and turned his attention back to his breakfast.

     Lance continued to watch him as he ate and suddenly felt a couple tears roll down his cheeks. It finally hit him all at once that he may never see Keith again in two days. He may never share another breakfast with him, or a bed, or have a conversation with him, or feel his skin, or his heart beat. The next couple days would be the last memories he’d have of Keith. It was pathetic, but just watching him eat in front of him suddenly became that much more significant.

     When Keith looked up he didn’t particularly make a huge deal out of the wetness on Lance’s face. Instead he merely reached over and wiped them away. He smiled and caressed his face.

“You don’t have to start missing me now. We’ve got time. I promise,” he said. Lance wanted to sob. “What we don’t have time for, is being sad. We’re gonna have a lot of fun today before those assholes come over.” Lance sniffled.

“What…what are we gonna do?” Lance asked. Keith smirked and pulled his hand away to continue eating.

“We’re gonna go outside.”

     Turned out outside was a desert. Lance had only seen pictures of the dunes and the sand and the mountains. Seeing in person was almost breath taking. The photos definitely failed to show the pure beauty of the landscapes, and he instantly pitied everyone in his class who only experience the bland two dimensional rendition. Keith had him dressed in hiking gear and packed up some food and water in a back pack. Lance didn’t have to carry anything except his own water bottle, but he felt guilty not sharing the load.

“I can hold _something_ , Keith. Anything really,” he said as Keith lead him down a trail.

“No way. This is all for you,” he replied walking up the rocky terrain. The sun was at its peak, but it was overcast.

“How is it cold in the desert?” Lance asked shivering in his jacket.

“Different kind of desert. It’s also winter, so it’s mostly overcast and wind,” Keith answered as he climbed up on a ledge. 

     He turned around and held out his hand to help Lance up. The alien accepted his hand, and put to much strength in his legs when he pushed himself up. He accidentally shoved himself into Keith’s personal space, and was luckily caught by the astronaut before he flung himself into a nearby rock. Keith chuckled and Lance let out an anxious breath.

“You good?” Keith asked. Lance looked at him and blushed before backing up a little. They were very close still.

“Yeah…” Keith patted his back.

“Good, lets keep going,” he said.

     They continued the trek through the mountains and the hills. Lance tried to keep up with Keith, but always ended up being distracted by the wonderful views and landmarks. His eyes weren’t nearly big enough for him to take it all in, and his brain wasn’t capable of fully understanding how the elements worked. Eventually Keith decided to slow his pace and walked hand in hand with Lance.

“What’s your planet like?” He asked as they looked down at a canyon.

“Nothing like this,” Lance breathed taking in the sight before him. “This is amazing.”

“Yeah, it is,” Keith agreed and nodded.

“The environment is fairly consistant on my planet. Rainy and what you would refer to as a ‘wetland’,” Lance told him.

“Sounds wet,” Keith noted. Lance laughed a little and looked over at the human. Keith met his eye and smiled.

“It is. We were once much more similar to you, but as time went on we developed to be more habitable in water…at least, that’s what it said in my textbooks in school,” he said. Keith chuckled.

“Yeah, I imagine it’s kind of stressful answering so many questions about your species. If anyone asked me the same ones about humans, I dunno how well I’d do,” Keith replied.

“Honestly, I only know so much because our government forces us all to go to school for twenty years,” Lance told him.

“Twenty years of _required_ education?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of ridiculous,” Lance said. “I had to drop out in my 13th year. That was the year my mom left…” They we’re both quiet.

“I’m sorry,” Keith murmured. Lance shook his head.

“It’s her loss…Marcy is so amazing. She didn’t know how to appreciate her.”

“Your probably right. Not everyone would make a good parent.” Keith sat down at the edge of the canyon. Lance followed.

“Yeah…I just wish she would’ve left a note. I doubt she even feels bad about it.”

“Maybe…it’s hard to say. I’ve had my fair share of shitty parents,” he said bitterly as he took off his backpack.

“Yeah?” Lance prompted. Keith nodded.

“Three of them…then when I turned eighteen I was kicked out of the foster care system,” he told him.

“Three…families?” Lance asked. Keith nodded again looking down at the canyon.

“I dunno what happened to my birth parents, but the first family I was with didn’t like that I cried a lot. The second didn’t like that I was so sad about the last family. The last one just didn’t care, so I ran away.”

“That’s awful,” Lance said. Keith shrugged.

“It’s the hand life dealt me. I couldn’t do anything to change it. I got my G.E.D and then went to college to study astrophysics. Suddenly I was approached by NASA to go to the moon, and the rest is history.”

“What’s college?” Lance asked.

“Continued education. If you want a decent job, you need to study more after required education,” Keith explained.

“Oh…that’s an interesting concept,” he said. Keith chuckled.

“Yeah, if interesting means fucking pointless then it’s really interesting.” 

     Lance giggled and Keith looked at him again. The alien smiled at him, and Keith smiled back. It felt good to tell Lance about his life. He could see their connection grow in front of him, and he was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to kiss him again. That desire kept coming back over the past few days, and he was starting to get used to denying it. This time he was tempted not to, but inevitably kept his mouth to himself despite wanting to share it with the creature glowing before him.

“Are you hungry?” Keith asked, bringing himself back to reality. Lance nodded as Keith reached back for his backpack and pulled out their lunches.

     They ate like that. Sitting on the edge of a canyon and talking about their lives together. The entire time their bodies moved closer and closer until they were as close as comfort allowed. Lance leaned his head on Keith’s shoulder after they finished eating, and their hands naturally found each other again. Eventually they got back up and continued their trek.

     Hours later the sun was starting to fall in the sky. Lance was still fascinated by every land mark, but couldn’t help but notice Keith tugging him along. He wanted to stop and look at all the different plants, but Keith was incessant on guiding him somewhere.

“Where are we going?” Lance asked with a giggle.

“There’s something I want to show you,” he said as they approached a big wall of rock. 

     Lance had to tilt his head back to take in the entirety of its height, and noticed a tall slot in it. As they got closer, Lance noticed that it was wide enough to walk through, and sure enough Keith tugged him inside. He thought the mountains were amazing just on the outside, but from the inside it was almost magical. The clouds had cleared up, and with the sun getting lower the entire canyon was glowing. It seemed endless, but eventually Keith pulled him to the exit just in time to see the sun close to setting.

     It was the most beautiful thing Lance had ever seen. The way the light from the sun bounced off the sky and the sand was beyond anything Lance could comprehend. All the colors that painted the sky and the ground were unlike anything Lance had seen on his home planet, and being able to watch the sunset was a privilege not even most celebrities could afford back home. His heart swelled, and he couldn’t help but feel incredibly grateful as he watched the last sliver of light disappear.

“Quick, get on the ground,” Keith whispered and pushed Lance down with him on their stomachs. 

     He almost couldn’t believe his eyes as he witnessed the same last few seconds of the sunset again. He sat up, dumbfounded and thoroughly amazed with what he had seen that day. Keith smiled as he stood up and offered Lance a hand. The alien took a minute to process the sight he had taken in before looking up and accepting the hand. When he stood up, he nearly fell over again.

“Oops. I gotcha,” Keith said holding him steady. Lance laughed nervously and laced his fingers behind Keith’s neck. The human gently caressed his ribs and his waist as Lance kept his eyes down. He bit his lip, and only looked up because Keith tilted his chin up. The human looked at him with gentle eyes.

“Hey,” he whispered. Lance let his hands relax and slid down to touch Keith’s chest again.

“…hey,” he replied.

“How was that?” He asked. Lance shook his head.

“Words can’t describe…what you’ve shown me today is priceless,” he sighed. Keith smiled.

“Anything for you,” he said returning his arm around Lance.

     The warmth the came from the human was special. The breath that hit Lance’s lips was dripping with graciousness. The way he looked at Lance was focused and caring. It was all so perfect Lance couldn’t help but move his hands to caress Keith’s jaw. He immediately looked down at Lance’s lips as he did so, and quickly wetted his before looking back to his eyes. Lance could only take in the way Keith was looking at him, but he leaned in regardless.

     It was hesitant at first, but it gently melted into something more comfortable. Lance had never kissed someone before, so he felt a little awkward about it. Still, the fact that it was with Keith made it feel a lot more natural than what he would imagine. It wasn’t anything long or drawn out. It was just a sweet and simple kiss that filled Lance was absolute joy. He thought the day couldn’t get any better, but this kiss was the cherry on top of a perfect day spent.

     When they pulled away, Keith could only smile. He bit his lip before leaning in again for a shorter, but still wonderful, kiss. It was a gentle peck, but it still sparked electricity through the alien. He blushed and eventually hid his face into Keith’s shoulder. The human chuckled and held him tightly.

“I think we should be getting back,” he suggested. Lance nodded and pulled away.

“Thank you so much. Today was…amazing,” he said holding his hands. Keith smirked.

“Don’t worry about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I learned somewhere that because the earth is round when you watch the sunset you can watch it again if you get lower to the ground and idk I thought that was pretty fricken romantic

**Author's Note:**

> Msg me on tumblr: fryingpanss.tumblr.com


End file.
